Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-01-14
THE PARTNER.

sponsibe nor a very lucrative position,
and Tommy (as all his friends called HIM
longed, as perhaps fifty thousand young
men in similar situation in London are
longing at this moment. for chance of
turning his brains to better account than
adding up columns of figures and copying
entries from one big book into another
The chance did not come. but Tommy did
not despair; and there was this difference
between him and the great ma ority of
his fellow prisoners of the desk-he had
the pluck to work away manfully at
whatever he thought might possibly some
day help him to better his position, even
though he could not see exactly how it
was to be done With this end III view
he got up French. German and Italian,
and he did everything he could to pick
up information as to the financial circum-
stances of the customers of the bank. He
scraped acquaintance with every clerk
employed by those who had accounts at
the bank. as far as he possibly could and
picked up in time an idea. more or less
accurate as to the commercial status of
most of them.
One day he happened to be at lunch in
his favorite restaurant when an acquaint-
ance named Darling came i'll and sat
down beside him. After a little casual
conversation Darling asked him to let
him know of any vacant clerkship he
might hear of.
Il will. certainly. old fellow. re-
turned Tommy; "but | hope you haven't
got into a row with Appleton. Fred
erick Appleton was Darling brother-in-
law. and he was also the secretary of the
Mudford and County Chemical company,
in whose counting house young Darling
had subordinate post.)
"Oh, no. nothing of the kind. re-
turned Darling; and then he changed the
subject.
On his way back to the bank after
lunch, Mathers asked himself why Oar
ling should leave his present situation.
He had a capital prospect there-his
brotherin-law being the secretary; and
there was no disagreement between him
and his influential relative. Could it be
that Darling had had hint from his
brotherin-law that the Chemical COM
pany was getting into shallow water, and
that it behooved him to be looking out for
another situation? 1t seemed more than
likely and young Mathers determined to
act at once. He slipped into the bank
parlor that afternoon. hoping to find the
junior partner, Mr. Parr, good natured
sort of man. who was not likely to snub
him for volunteering information. To
his disappointment, he found only Mr..
Hodgson. sour tempered old man. who
was struggling into his overcoat. prcpara-
tory to leaving the office for the day.
"WeH, growled the banker, what
do you WANT
Tommy was on the point of saying that
he had come to speak to Mr.. Parr, but in
a moment he changed his mind.
Il heard something to-day sir. he re-
piled, THAT made me think that the
Mudford company are not III a very good
way
We'll, what of that: what's that to
me:'
Nothing. sir: only l thought there
was no harm in letting you know
Anything of that kind you can say to
Mr.. Parkinson answered the old gen
tleman, as he seized his umbrella and
waddled down the passage.
Tommy fen snubbed. but he did not
mind that much. He had done what he
wanted, brought himself under the per-
sonal notice of one of the partners. If he
had given the hint to Parkinson, the head
cashier Parkinson, not he, would have
had all the credit for it. He retired to
his place among the other clerks a little
sore at the rebuff, yet not entirely dissat-
isfied.
On his way home Mr.. Hodgson remem-
bered that the bank held some shares of
the Mudford Chemical company as Sc
curity for the balance of the account of
one of their customers who was deemed
rather shaky. Next morning accord
ingly he called Tommy into his room
and questioned him as to the nature of
his information
perhaps you will excuse my entering
into that, sir" said Tommy, with the ut
most GOODNESS.
Mr.. Hodgson dismissed Mathers to his
work with a dissatisfied grunt and
wave of his hand, and Immediately set
to work to have the shares of the Mud
ford company exchanged for other Sc
curites.
Tommy, who managed to know most
OF what happened at the bank, noted the
fact and re- olced.
Within six weeks the shareholders of
the Mudford Chemical company met and
resolved to go into liquidation, and,
though Mr.. Hodgson did not think it
worth while to thank the junior clerk for
the information he had given. Tommy
was satisfied. He knew that people do
not forget things which save their
pockets
1t happened that, some months after
the incident of the Mudford Chemical
company Messrs. Hodgson had import
ant business to transact in Turin. and it
was thought advisable that the senior
partner should proceed to that city to
look after it, There was some idea, if
the prospect seemed favorable, of start
ing branch house there The question
then arose. which of the clerks should
accompany the head of the firm as his
secretary; and Mr.. IIodgson, mindful of
the service which Mathers had rendered
him, consulted the head cashier on the
propriety of the selection. Parkinson, it
happened, had favorite of his own, and
Tommy would have lost his oppOrtunity